Institute for Public Affairs2009-11-20T15:10:06+00:00ExpressionEngineCopyright (c) 2009, IPASurvey Shows Broad School-Choice Supporttag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.609242009-11-18T14:52:43+00:002009-11-18T20:50:44+00:002009-11-18T14:52:43+00:00
A survey released by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice found high percentages of likely voters in Virginia in favor of school choice options. The Orthodox Union, as part of a broad coalition of other affiliate groups, partnered with the Foundation in support of the survey.
Democrats, Republicans and Independents all reported similar numbers -- 64%, 68% and 66%, respectively -- in favor of tax credit scholarships. School vouchers garnered high-percentage support as well: 53% of Democrats, 67% of Republicans and 58% of Independents all support school vouchers.
The Richmond Times Dispatch reported the results, noting that proponents of school choice hoped the survey would help lawmakers realize that school choice is highly important to voters.
--]]>Obama & Livni on Gilotag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.609232009-11-18T14:32:02+00:002009-11-18T15:35:03+00:002009-11-18T14:32:02+00:00
After yesterday's White House statement expressing the Administration's "dismay" over a planning committee's approval of new construction in the south Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, President Obama has personally expressed his opposition to the Gilo project.
While, as we said in the OU's statement yesterday, we view all of Jerusalem non-negotiable, it's worth wondering whether the President realizes what Gilo is.
It is a built-up Jewish neighborhood in the southern part of Jerusalem. As such, even Israeli opposition leader Tzippy Livni has stated her support for the construction.
And, aside from the President, what of those such as Peace Now who blasted the Israeli decision? Do they realize they are out of step with the broad consensus in Israel?
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]]>OU APPLAUDS FEDERAL COURT’S LATEST RULING IN MEZUZAH CASEtag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.608052009-11-16T17:13:22+00:002009-11-16T20:43:23+00:00The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, applauded the ruling issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in favor of Orthodox Jewish apartment owners in Chicago whose condominium association had temporarily banned them from affixing a mezuzah to their apartment doorpost.2009-11-16T17:13:22+00:00
Previous Ruling Overturned, Case Awaits Trial Court
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, applauded the ruling issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in favor of Orthodox Jewish apartment owners in Chicago whose condominium association had temporarily banned them from affixing a mezuzah to their apartment doorpost.
The case arose when Shoreline Towers adopted a rule banning materials of various kinds outside of tenants’ doors. The Bloch family's mezuzah was removed during repainting and not allowed to be re-affixed. After the Blochs filed suit against Shoreline in response, Shoreline adopted a religious exception to the hallway rules, and both the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois adopted laws guaranteeing the right of a tenant to affix religious symbols to their doors. Nonetheless, the lawsuit proceeded as the Blochs sought monetary damages from Shoreline due to the incident. Their case was thrown out in trial court and subsequently appealed on the federal level.
In July 2008, a three-judge-panel rejected this appeal, holding that the federal Fair Housing Act did not require a condominium association or landlord to accommodate an Orthodox Jewish tenant’s need to affix a mezuzah to his/her doorpost, as required by Jewish law.
Today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, resulted from an en banc rehearing on the Blochs' case, with eight judges participating.
The majority decision threw out the previous decision, ruling that the complaint should in fact be heard in a trial court.
Nathan J. Diament, public policy director for the Orthodox Union, issued the following statement commenting upon the court ruling:
The Orthodox Union commends the 7th Circuit Court for its decision. We believe that, irrespective of the facial neutrality of the condo association’s rule, to ban a Jewish tenant from affixing a mezuzah ought to be viewed as a constructive eviction from their home and thus illegal under the Fair Housing Act. Freedom from religious discrimination in housing must encompass the freedom to act in conformity with one’s religious beliefs. The court’s ruling vindicates this view and for that we are grateful.
### ]]>Israel-Arab-Obama Impasse – Where Next?tag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.606642009-11-12T20:09:42+00:002009-11-12T21:16:43+00:002009-11-12T20:09:42+00:00
Last week, there was a spate of editorials and punditry on how President Obama and his team have misfired in their efforts to have Israelis and Palestinians back at the table negotiating a final peace deal.
Even NYTimes’ Tom Friedman let forth his frustration by calling for the President to “get out of the picture” and leave Israelis and Palestinians alone until they are ready to come back to the table of their own needs and will. (Hey, wasn’t that an approach Friedman and others regularly attacked President G.W. Bush for engaging in?)
This week saw Rahm Emanuel standing in for President Obama in delivering a speech to the Jewish community to reassure it of the President’s best intentions, and the President meeting at The White House with Prime Minister Netanyahu – although getting the meeting scheduled, not to mention that not even a photo of the two leaders meeting was released, ruffled feathers.
But having put the speech and the meeting to bed, the Obama team has to be trying to figure out where to go next – and one has to presume that Tom Friedman’s option is not an option for a White House whose National Security Adviser deemed this the “epicenter” of policy issues.
So, brace yourself for seeing more proposals bandied about. Walter Russell Mead suggests Obama ought to invest more heavily in the Palestinians.
We suspect – and fear – that others might start floating notions that it is time for the President to publicly put forward, as “the Obama plan” – a specific set of proposals for a final agreement along the lines of what foreign policy elites say “everyone knows” the final deal will look like. We fear this because what we know is that while “everyone” at cocktail parties or in panel discussions might “know” how the Israeli-Arab conflict will be resolved, it is the people who live in that region and whose lives are at stake who cannot afford to have an abstraction asserted that does not actually guarantee peace and security. And until Israel’s enemies “know” what “everyone knows” and can “recite it in their sleep,” it is more dangerous than useful to contemplate an American proposal.
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]]>Another Case That WRFA Could Solve?tag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.605572009-11-10T23:19:18+00:002009-11-11T00:35:19+00:002009-11-10T23:19:18+00:00
Three medics from the Baltimore Orthodox community have been barred from riding on calls by the Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company because their beards, which are worn for religious purposes, may prevent them from donning protective masks.
The medics see this measure as religious discrimination.
This occurrence, merely one in a string of similar examples in recent years, demonstrates the palpable need to pass the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA), for which the Orthodox Union has advocated in the past. WRFA would require employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of employees insofar as doing so did not impose an undue hardship upon the employer. This would allow employees to take time off for religious holiday observance and wear religious garb – including facial hair – to work. Despite its introduction in previous Congresses, the legislation has yet to be introduced in the 111th Congress.
The introduction of this legislation is a matter of religious liberty for Americans of all faiths.
-- ]]>Orthodox Voters - Change Againtag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.604952009-11-06T14:59:27+00:002009-11-06T17:22:28+00:00Orthodox Jewish voters are the shifting middle of American Jewish politics, and they helped winning candidates in several key contests in 2009.2009-11-06T14:59:27+00:00
Orthodox Jews are the long suffering swing voters of the Jewish world, preferring to vote on issues rather than parties. Thus, the majority of Orthodox Jews voted for Gore-Lieberman in 2000 but switched decidedly to Bush-Cheney in '04.
This time around, heavily Orthodox areas in New York and New Jersey also made news. In Nassau County, where Democratic County Executive Tom Suozzi hangs on to a few hundred vote lead, the local county legislature flipped from Democratic to Republican control, all because in the heavily Orthodox Five Towns area, Howard Kopel of Lawrence unseated the five-term Democratic incumbent, Jeffrey Toback by more than 1,100 votes (h/t the Jewish Star on the numbers).
In the City itself, in what was a surprisingly much closer race than everyone predicted, heavily Orthodox areas like the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Forest Hills and Rego Park in Queens and Borough Park and Williamsburg went overwhelmingly for Mayor Bloomberg, helping put him back for a third term - 20,642 to 8,307 (UWS), 15,309 to 5,173 (Forest Hills/Rego Park) & by an eye-popping 13,587 to 3,907 in Borough Park (h/t Hamodia for the numbers).
In New Jersey, challenger, and now Governor-elect, Chris Christie won every district in Lakewood save one (h/t Lakewood Scoop). As well, while hometown pride may have given the Democratic ticket the edge in Teaneck (8,784 for Corzine-Weinberg; 3,197 to Christie-Guadagno), as it is from where the Lt. Governor nominee, Senator Loretta Weinberg hails, the heavily Orthodox areas of town gave Christie most of his votes there - some 2/3 of his township tally - totaling 2,210 votes for the winner.
-- ]]>The Majority Leader on the Goldstone Reporttag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.604572009-11-05T14:13:05+00:002009-11-05T15:27:06+00:002009-11-05T14:13:05+00:00
During the House floor debate on H. Res. 867, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer delivered a passionate speech in support of the Resolution, condemning the Goldstone Report’s one-sided presentation of Operation Cast Lead.
We thank the Majority Leader for his conviction in standing against international bias against Israel.
Click here to read Rep. Hoyer's comments, and click here to watch the Majority Leader's speech (starting from 280:04).
-- ]]>ORTHODOX UNION WELCOMES PASSAGE OF ANTI-GOLDSTONE REPORT RESOLUTIONtag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.604212009-11-03T21:25:38+00:002009-11-03T22:43:39+00:00Today, the Orthodox Union applauded the swift passage of H. Res. 867, a resolution condemning the UN Goldstone Report on Israeli military action in Gaza, by a 344-36 vote in the House of Representatives. The Resolution won bipartisan support.2009-11-03T21:25:38+00:00
Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (the “Orthodox Union”) applauded the swift passage of H.Res. 867, a resolution condemning the UN Goldstone Report on Israeli military action in Gaza. The Resolution passed by a 344-36 vote in the House.
The legislation, introduced by Reps. Howard Berman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Gary Ackerman and Dan Burton, deemed the Goldstone Report “irredeemably biased” and called on President Obama to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the Report.
The Resolution won bipartisan support.
Nathan J. Diament, OU Director of Public Policy, stated:
The Orthodox Union commends the timely passage of this legislation and thanks Reps. Berman, Ros-Lehtinen, Ackerman and Burton for their leadership in sponsoring this Resolution. The importance of continued Congressional recognition and condemnation of international bias against Israel cannot be understated, and we applaud today’s effort toward that goal. We ask for swift passage by the Senate.
###]]>ORTHODOX UNION APPLAUDS INRODUCTION OF THE JERUSALEM EMBASSY RELOCATION ACT OF 2009tag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.604112009-11-03T19:02:27+00:002009-11-03T20:07:28+00:002009-11-03T19:02:27+00:00
Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, applauded the United States Senate for the introduction of the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act of 2009.
Since 1967, Jerusalem has been the united capital city of Israel, yet the United States has failed to recognize it as such. The United States maintains its embassy in the functioning capital of every country with which it has diplomatic relations. Israel has remained the exception to this rule. The Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act of 2009 calls for the State Department to move the American Embassy from its current location in Tel-Aviv to its rightful place in Jerusalem. The legislation will also remove the Presidential waiver from the Jerusalem Embassy Law (Public Law 104-45) enacted in 1995.
The Orthodox Union would like to extend special gratitude to Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas for his continued leadership on this issue and for his chief sponsorship of the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act. The Orthodox Union also wishes to thank the original co-sponsors of this important piece of legislation including, Senators Cornyn, Inhofe and Kyl.
Nathan J. Diament, director of the Union's Institute for Public Policy stated:
It is time to move the US embassy in Israel to its rightful place in Jerusalem. Just as the United States locates its embassy in the duly designated capitals of other nations, so too it should locate its embassy in Israel's recognized capital.
### ]]>What’s Going On? (Obama & Israel, Chap….)tag:ouradio.org,2009:/33.603692009-11-02T14:01:25+00:002009-11-02T15:08:26+00:002009-11-02T14:01:25+00:00
One week before President Obama will place himself again under the Jewish community microscope with an address to the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, one has to wonder…